We're proud to work alongside families, school leaders and veteran teachers to ensure that all students in the region have access to the educational opportunities they deserve.

About Charlotte-Piedmont Triad

about-charlotte-piedmont-triad

Positioned between the Appalachian Mountains to the west and the Carolina coast to the east, Charlotte attracts a wide variety of residents and industry. The city’s education system was at the forefront of the desegregation movement in the 1970s and won the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2011. Despite this, there is still a stark disparity in educational opportunities between low-income students and their more affluent peers. Within a few miles of the prospering business districts of downtown, there are schools where only one third of students are on grade level in reading and math.

Teach For America first came to Charlotte in 2004. Today, around 170 corps members reach more than 11,000 students across Charlotte. More than 400 Teach For America alumni also call the city home, including 16 alumni serving as principals and assistant principals in high-poverty schools.

Ten years after launching our Charlotte region, Teach For America and Guilford County Schools initiated a partnership wherein TFA corps members would be placed in some of the district’s highest needs schools. The cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and the High Point–which make up the Piedmont Triad–are widely known for their rich culture and heritage. Greensboro in particular has a strong legacy of student and community leadership rooted in the Civil Rights Movement, including the six courageous students who integrated Greensboro Schools in 1957 and the four who birthed the student-led sit-in movement in 1960. Yet, more than 50 years later, there are still glaring gaps in education opportunity according to race, zip code, and income bracket.

Founded as Teach For America–Piedmont Triad in 2014, the region grew to include 40 corps members and more 20 schools partners during the 2017-2018 school year. Today, Teach For America continues to maintain a distinct presence in both Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad under the consolidated name Teach For America–Charlotte-Piedmont Triad.

Together with thousands of families, educators, and community partners, we are working to ensure that economically disadvantaged students in both Charlotte and the Triad receive educational opportunities that will put them on the path to success.

Teaching in Charlotte-Piedmont Triad

Are You From North Carolina?

While great teachers come from all backgrounds, we believe that people with a personal tie to this historic place—whether through alma mater or hometown—have the potential to make a profound additional impact with our local students.

Building on our state’s legacy of homegrown leadership, Teach For America is partnering with the state to form Lead NC. This initiative will increase the number of North Carolinians leading local classrooms.

Along with the full continuum of research-based programming received by all corps members, members of Lead NC will have the opportunity to engage directly with community leaders from across the state and to share their perspectives and recommendations on how to retain more homegrown talent in high-need NC classrooms and communities to move us forward.

North Carolina Needs You

17 percent of North Carolina kids scored high enough on the ACT to be considered college ready by the Board of Education.

According to the 2011-12 North Carolina state test, children from low-income households were about 30 percent less likely to be proficient in reading and mathematics.

31 percent of North Carolina 8th graders were proficient in reading, including only 14 percent of black students, 22 percent of Latino students, and 18 percent of low income students.

Educators often find themselves wrestling with several critical questions like, "What do I do to get more parents involved?" Janelle Styons (Charlotte ‘07), is finding a way to meet her parents where they are.